Pyrizhky : Ukrainian and Russian baked pastries

2020 is the year I try to get back to my ancestral roots like building a family tree, finding my cousins that I haven’t seen for 50 years and reviving old family recipes.

Both my parent are of Eastern European decent and have pastry that is similar in their heritage, in Russian it is Pedahah (mainly filled with fruit and vegetables) and in Ukrainian called Pyrizhky (meat filled). I remember my Aunt Mary, my mom’s older sister made the best meat pyrizhky. We would phone her a couple of days ahead of visiting her and ask her to make certain dishes that she had perfected. Although my mom was of Ukranian decent, she married my dad (Russian) and made the Russian style equivalent. My father’s family were Doukhabors who immigrated to Canada in 1899. This sect was vegetarian and therefore their dishes had no meat.

The following recipe is my Aunt Mary’s version of meat Pyrizhky made from a yeast dough.

Dough

1 1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup shortening

1 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1 Tbsp yeast

3 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

4 1/2-5 1/2 cups flour

Filling

500 g lean ground beef

500g lean ground pork

1 onion finely chopped

1 carrot pealed and grated

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp dried oregano

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 pod knows beef broth

salt and pepper

In a glass bowl, combine the milk and shortening and place in microwave for 1 minute to melt then set aside to cool. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the warm water, sugar and yeast and allow to proof for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, beat the eggs then add the milk mixture. Combine and add in the yeast mixture and mix. Add in 4 cups of flour and combine with your hand until the flour is incorporated. Dump the mixture onto a generously floured board and knead until the dough is smooth and elactic. You may need to add up to 1 more cup of flour to achieve this. Form into a ball and cover letting the dough rest for 30 minutes. When you are ready to start rolling the dough out, cut the dough into quarters each piece into a log. Cut each log into 10 small discs. Roll each disc into an oval the size of the palm of your hand and about the thickness of a quarter.

While the dough is resting you can start the filling.

In a medium high fry pan add the pork and beef and cook through making sure to finish with a crumble, drain the fat off. Return to the heat and add in the onions, carrot ,garlic and oregano and cook till onions are translucent. Add in the mushroom soup and beef broth seasoning with salt and pepper. set aside to cool before assembly.

Assembly

Add 2-3 Tbsp of the filling to the centre of the rolled out dough. Pinch the dough around the top to pull the dough together. Gradually tuck in the dough in one side at a time pleating as you go. when you reach the bottom, finish off as you did at the top.

Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and brush with melted butter. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes till golden brown. Remove from the oven and baste again with melted butter.

These can be frozen for up to 3 months. to reheat, place in the 400 oven for 10-15 minutes until warmed through.

Enjoy.